The continuous use of water made them suffer from skin rashes, allergies and other problems, claim Vellalore residents

Residents of Vellalore under the ‘Vellalore Kuppai Kidangu Ethirpukuzhu’ have said that they are troubled by the quality of water in the area.

The protest committee’s Secretary S. Daniel said that the groundwater quality was so poor in the area that it was yellow.

Left with no alternative, the residents of Konavaikalpalayam, Mahalingapuram and other areas were forced to use the water for washing and bathing.

The continuous use of water made them suffer from skin rashes, allergies and other problems.

Dump yard

There could be no other reason for the sudden deterioration in the quality of water than the presence of the Corporation’s dump yard in Vellalore. In the past 10 years the water quality had considerably declined.

This was because the contractor, who the Coimbatore Corporation had engaged, had not successfully processed the waste.

This had become evident after the Corporation delayed payment for the contractor for failing to comply with the waste management norms.

This was what the residents had been complaining to the Corporation for a very long time, Mr. Daniel said and wanted the Corporation to ensure that the waste was processed as per norms.

He also alleged that the farmers in the area also suffered because of the water quality. This was unfortunate because the farmers came under the State Agriculture Minister S. Damodaran’s constituency.

Though the farmers and residents had represented the issue to the ruling party Councillors in the area, none had responded in the right earnest.

Protests staged

The residents had also staged protests but that too had failed as the officials continued to dump garbage in Vellalore. A ruling party councillor who The Hindu tried to contact was not available for comment.

Mr. Daniel said that the Corporation should shift the dump yard from Vellalore and only then would the quality of water improve.